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Rice Baseball: 2021 MLB Owls update – June 12

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The 2021 MLB season is underway and Rice baseball alums are busy on the mound and at the plate. Here’s the latest from the MLB Owls from this week.

Anthony Rendon – Los Angeles Angels

Rendon drove in his 600th career RBI on Tuesday in the midst of a hot streak he’s been riding. Since June 1, Rendon is hitting .297 with 11 hits and 12 RBI in nine games. On Saturday he added his first home run since May 3, shown below.

https://twitter.com/jgroc/status/1403826764485480451

Through June 12, Rendon is hitting .241 with 13 extra-base hits, 18 walks and 28 strikeouts. His OPS is .687 and he’s collected 30 RBI.

Brock Holt – Texas Rangers

Brock Holt had a productive week, culminating in a walk-off hit to beat the Giants on Wednesday night. He also had a pair of multi-hit games.

Through June 12, Holt is hitting .242 with seven extra-base hits, 13 walks and 23 strikeouts. His OPS is .684 and he’s collected 11 RBI.

Tyler Duffey – Minnesota Twins

Duffey had two outings this week, giving up an earned run in both appearances. That’s the first time he’s surrendered an earned run in consecutive appearances this season.

Through June 12, Duffey has a 4.50 ERA with a 1.375 WHIP. He’s averaging 8.3 strikeouts per nine innings.

Lucas Luetege – New York Yankees

Luetege pitched parts of two innings in a single appearance this week. Of the five batters he faced, he allowed one hit with one strikeout and one hit batsman.

Through June 12, Luetege has a 2.97 ERA with a 0.956 WHIP. He’s averaging 9.2 strikeouts per nine innings.

J.T. Chargois – Seattle Mariners

Chargois appeared in two games this week, earning his fifth hold of the season on Sunday and his first win of the season on Wednesday. The win came in the 10th inning of a game with Detroit following a blown save by Chargois. He struck out two in the inning.

Through June 12, Chargois has a 1.80 ERA with a 0.667 WHIP. He’s averaging 9.6 strikeouts per nine innings.

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The Roost Podcast | Ep 77 – Previewing UTSA Football with Jared Kalmus

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Season previews have arrived and Jared Kalmus of Underdog Dynasty kicks things off this week with our UTSA football preview.

Rice Football is a few months out from its 2021 season, but it’s never too early to get a leg up on the competition and prepare for the year ahead. This week Jared Kalmus of Underdog Dynasty joins the show to talk UTSA football. From where the program has been to what its become under second-year head coach Jeff Traylor, there was a lot to unpack. Be sure to stick around for the lightning round and check out his answers to a selection of UTSA and Conference USA related topics.

You can always find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 77.

Episode Notes

  • Housekeeping
    • Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on your platform of choice. Every little bit helps.
    • Please support us on Patreon. Be the first to get the inside scoop on what’s going on with Rice football and stick around for even further analysis. That includes our debriefing series on spring football, recruiting news and more.
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  • Jared Kalmus joins the show — Jared shares his insight on UTSA football under Jeff Traylor and what to expect from the Roadrunners this coming season, including:
    • What to make of UTSA’s surprising 2020 season
    • The incredible amount of depth UTSA returns in 2021
    • A Frank Harris breakthrough season
    • Expectations for the Roadrunners in the upcoming season
    • The Lightning Round

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BREAKING: Jose Cruz Jr to be named Owls Rice baseball head coach

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A fan-favorite and productive player for the Owls many years ago, Rice baseball is expected to hire Jose Cruz Jr. as their next head coach.

A little more than two weeks from the start of their search, Rice baseball has a new head coach. The Owls will tab Jose Cruz Jr. to run their program.

Rice had options when it came to its coaching search. The Owls could have sought out an established assistant and were linked to some noteworthy candidates in recent weeks. Instead, Rice will return to its roots. Cruz. Jr checks both boxes given his relationship with the program’s past and present as well as experience playing and coaching at the highest levels.

Cruz Jr. returns to South Main where he first made his name for himself on the diamond. A three-time All-American with the Owls, Cruz Jr. went on to be selected as the No. 3 overall pick in the 1995 MLB Draft by the Seattle Mariners. He went on  to play for several teams in his 12 year MLB career, spending most of his time with the Toronto Blue Jays.

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He most recently accepted a job as a hitting coach with the Detroit Tigers in December of 2020 where his son, Trei Cruz, was recently selected as a third round pick in the 2020 MLB Draft.

In addition to his time as a player at Rice, Cruz Jr. has been a fixture around Reckling Park in recent seasons. His sons Trei and Antonio Cruz were both members of the Owls’ team in recent seasons, giving Cruz Jr. ample reason to frequent campus and stay in touch with the program that he’ll now take over full time.

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Rice Football Burning Questions: Who steps up at wide receiver in 2021?

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The abbreviated 2020 Rice football season provided some answers regarding where the program is at. But questions remaining, starting with the receiving corps.

The injuries sustained by the Rice football wide receiving corps last season were unbelievable. Never in my time covering college football had I seen a group of pass catchers so depleted by injuries. It’s not as if there weren’t enough wideouts on the roster — there were enough bodies — they were just all hurt.

By the time Rice played its final regular season game against UAB, the Owls had one scholarship wide receiver available at practice, and he was beaten up, too. Which brings us to the 2021 season and our first of a few pieces in our Burning Questions series this offseason. Who fills that void in the passing game in 2021?

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Conference USA Baseball: 2021 Regional Roundup

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Conference USA Baseball sent four teams to NCAA Regionals. Several made deep runs, but none were able to advance to the next round of postseason play.

Columbia Regional

Old Dominion hung in until the final out, literally. The Monarchs opened their postseason with wins over Jacksonville and South Carolina, earning themselves a spot in the winner’s bracket as the remaining teams fought for redemption. Virginia made it out of the fray and ambushed Old Dominion early in their first meeting, winning 8-3. That set up a winner-take-all contest which was delayed to Tuesday because of weather in the region.

The teams traded leads in the late innings in the finale. All six runs scored in regulation were scored from the sixth inning on. Try as they might, Old Dominion couldn’t push in the final run before the game was ended in the 10th with a walk off home run from the Hoos’ Devin Ortiz.

Ruston Regional

The only Conference USA school to host in its own ballpark, Louisiana Tech (1-2) did not get the result it wanted. The Bulldogs opened with an 18-2 rout against Rider, a game that they led 9-2 entering the eighth inning before doubling their run total that frame. NC State would get the best of them in the next game, though, silencing the Tech offense in an 8-3 win.

Forced to contend through the loser’s bracket, Louisiana Tech edged Alabama 10-8 but dropped a one-sided affair to NC State, this time falling 14-7.

Oxford Regional

Southern Miss (3-2) came extremely close to making it through the loser’s bracket in a loaded quarter in Oxford. The Golde Eagles were sent to the long road with an opening loss to Florida State and quickly rebounded with a 21-0 thrashing of Southeast Missouri State.

A Will McGillis home run lifted them past Florida State in a rematch, pitting them against regional host Ole Miss as the last two teams standing. Southern Miss won the first game 10-7 to force a winner-take-all finale. Ole Miss struck first in that one, taking a commanding 9-0 lead after two innings and holding on to eliminate Southern Miss.

Greenville Regional

Charlotte (1-2) got off to a hot start in their opening game against Maryland. After falling behind 1-0 in the second, the 49ers scored in each of the next six innings including a five-run fourth and a three-run sixth to outgun the Terps 13-10. A loss to eventual regional champion East Carolina in their second game sent them to the losers bracket, where they dropped a nail-biting 2-1 decision to Maryland and were eliminated.

Head coach Robert Woodward was somber, but thankful after the loss. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been more proud to be affiliated with a baseball team than this one,” he said. “I’m so thankful for this group of players, coaching staff, support staff and administration for everything that everyone has put in to get us to this point. We certainly hate the outcome. Our players got our program to a place it hadn’t been in 10 years. Our guys absolutely laid it on the line from the first pitch against Morehead State to the last pitch here today against Maryland. I’m just so proud of these guys.”

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